During commercial meat processing, animal carcasses are fabricated into smaller meat portions including primal, sub-primal, and trim portions, for example. Meat trim, which generally include lesser value meat cuts such as chucks, shanks, rounds, and sirloins, is commonly processed into ground meat for use in burgers and sausages, and the like. The ratio of lean to fat is often referred to as the “lean point” of meat trim as well as the resulting ground meat and has a significant impact on the value and labeling of the resulting ground meat product.
In conventional beef processing operations, meat trim is accumulated in one or more containers prior to grinding, often based on a visual assessment of the lean point of the meat trim. A sample of each hopper is then analyzed to estimate the lean point of the entire hopper prior to grinding. The accuracy of this lean point estimate is based largely on whether the analyzed sample accurately reflects the lean point of the meat trim in the whole container. Re-grinding of the resulting meat products may be required if the core sample is not accurate.
A more recent approach is to determine the lean point of all meat trim on a generally continuous basis using automated lean point analysis systems such as those described in International Publication No. WO 97/26533, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. An example of a commercially available lean point analysis system is the Meatmaster™ x-ray system available from Foss Companies of Eden Prairie, Minn.